Ann Arbor Skyline unleashed its version of thunder and lightning in junior Kendall Murray and senior Olivia Cristian, but it was pesky South Lyon that nearly put the fear of God in them on the other side of the net.

Murray, committed to Michigan, teamed up with Cristian to provide the muscle as they combined for 49 kills with 28 and 21, respectively.

But the Eagles still needed five sets Tuesday night to oust South Lyon in a Division 1-Regional 5 girls volleyball semifinal, 25-19, 26-24, 21-25, 28-30, 15-10.

"When we watched the tape I think it didn't do justice," Skyline coach Chris Cristian said of South Lyon. "We didn't think it was going to be easy, but we saw we played some harder teams. But the thing though . . . they were very scrappy and that made a big difference."

With the win, Skyline improved to 33-9-3 overall while earning a spot in the regional final beginning at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 8 at home against Northville (45-6-1), which also advanced with a four-set semifinal victory over Temperance Bedford.

Up a set, but down 22-20 in the second, the Eagles were awarded a pivotal point on a disputed call on a kill attempt that crawled along the net toward the antenna and out-of-bounds. Skyline went on to take the set, 26-24, to take a 2-0 lead.

"From our view and from I think everybody's view in the gym, it went off of the blocker's hands," South Lyon coach Rebecca Tincknell said. "The ref called it the other way, so . . . that was a big point for them."

The Lions, however, responded in the third and fourth sets with a stirring rally to even things up at two sets apiece heading into the fifth.

"We knew what their game plan was," Tincknell said. "They switched it up on us a little bit on us the first two sets. Their outside (hitters) were coming around the middle and running a two-ball. It awhile for us to adjust to that. But I think once we got the hang of it, we were able to shut them down multiple times."

In the fourth set, Skyline thought it had won the match, 27-25, but Murray was called on a violtation for being under the net and South Lyon fought back to even the sets at two-all with a 30-28 win on a ace serve by Danielle Booth.

"They called it and took the point back," Cristian said of the explanation from the officials. "It took the wind out of our sails, but we came back in the fifth set."

Murray recorded five kills as Skyline jumped out to a 12-8 lead in the fifth set before closing it out.

"I told the guys, 'Let's just play our game, and the thing is that we don't always have to bring the hammer,'" Cristian said. "We just tried to move it around, do different things, just be smart, especially when they were blocking us, and maybe start utilizing our middle. And that kind of helped in that fifth set."

South Lyon players jump for joy after winning a point against Ann Arbor Skyline.(Photo: THOMAS BEAUDOIN)

South Lyon outside hitter Abby Durecki, despite being undersized on the front row against Murray and Cristian, was herioc in defeat with 15 kills. But more importantly it was her eight solo blocks which helped fuel the Lions' comeback.

"Warrior is a very good word," Tincknell said of Durecki, "our go-to, our girl who can get the team going and get rallying. She's had an amazing postseason from district. She just the one we can always rely on."

South Lyon's Chloe Grimes serves it up in Tuesday's regional semifinal against Skyline.(Photo: THOMAS BEAUDOIN)

"This team is going to be a very hard team to top in future years," Tincknell said. "They've set the expectation for the program of what it's going to be because they've shown the ninth- and 10th-graders what it takes to get to that level and it just doesn't come.easy. They were phenomenal . . . 16-0 in our conference. We beat some really good teams and they're going to be missed for sure. A lot of big shoes to fill next year."

Murray, considered one of the top junior club players in the country, continued to hammer away despite being blocked on numerous occasions.

"We hadn't seen Skyline this year, so this is our first encounter with them and she's good . . . great player, Tincknell said.